Ch'Oe Ch'Iwon'S Biography Of Fazang: A Textual Study

10.1163/ej.9789004156135.i-542.13

Brill’s MyBook program is exclusively available on
BrillOnline Books and Journals. Students and scholars affiliated with an
institution that has purchased a Brill E-Book on the BrillOnline platform
automatically have access to the MyBook option for the title(s) acquired by the
Library. Brill MyBook is a print-on-demand paperback copy which is sold at a
favorably uniform low price.

Chapter Summary

This chapter focuses on textual analysis of one of the primary sources of Fazang's life - the Korean biography of Fazang written by Chʾoe Chʾiwŏn and which is of primary value for any attempt to reconstruct Fazang's life. Lack of an in-depth investigation of its structure and sources has prevented modern scholarship from approaching the deeper layers of Fazang's career. Chʾoe Chʾiwŏn's work, Pŏpjang hwasang chŏn, is unique for its richly international characteristics. It was written in Korea by a Korean layman in honor of a Buddhist monk who was a third-generation Sogdian immigrant in China.